I partially moved out of my parents’ house each year to go away to school, but each time, I knew I was coming back. For my senior year, I didn’t want to go home, but that had nothing to do with living with my parents. I was a little afraid of independence at first, but I soon realized that it was well past time for me to leave the nest. By the time August rolled around, about the time I would have been going back to school, I felt a sense of unrest because I had nowhere to go. By the time I was offered the job at Lancaster Labs, I was so ready to go that I started packing immediately—before I even had a lease signed. I moved in with my cousin Heather on Sunday, October 2, right before my first day of work. I sign my very first lease on October 27 and move into my very first place the following weekend. All of my things will be leaving a place I once upon a time called home. And I’ve never been more excited.
I could talk for hours about how I’ve grown up over the past few years. From getting my first car or something as little as getting a cell phone, I've made little baby steps towards adulthood. So many things have occurred in the past month that I feel like a full-fledged adult, with all the accompanying hazards and stresses. I put a security and pet deposit on a place that I found, I'll be signing a one year lease and be paying monthly rent, plus I will be responsible for an electric bill and a heating bill. I will be responsible for myself, my cousin's cat (who I've graciously agreed to take), my quite pathetic fish, and shortly after moving in, my dog. I already got my very first checking account three weeks ago, soon to be followed by my very first credit card. I tell you, I still don't know how I lived without a debit card. My first big investment will be a washer/dryer (because I LOATHE laundromats), then I plan on replacing my piece of jun…I mean car next spring. Home phone, cell phone, cable, internet, and car insurance bills will all soon fall under my purview.
I have never had so much happening at one time. I'm (almost) lucky that I'm single right now. I'm not so sure I could juggle a relationship, even casual dating, with this much on my mind. I'm learning so much at my new job (which I LOVE) and much more about growing up every day. For the first time in my life in a very long time, I am completely at peace about where I am, where I've been, and where I'm headed.
Oh, and as a final comment: The new title of this blog, Out of Spec, is an additional delineation of me being a full-fledged adult. To explain what Out of Spec (or OOS) means: in my department in my company, we test pharmaceutical products to make sure they meet certain specifications. The amount of aspirin in this tablet must be 80 mg plus or minus 5%, the amount of arsenic in this tablet must be less than 0.1 mg , or other terribly mathy and sciencey things that make far less sense. If something would come back that does not meet specifications, for example if there were only 68 mg of aspirin in the tablet, then that test comes back OOS. I translated it to the blog world to mean that something isn't exactly what is expected, or something that's a little out of the ordinary. In pharmaceuticals, we dread out of spec results, but in the real world, I wish more of my days were a little less ordinary.
My love to all Setonians,
~Stephanie
Greetings from beautiful Lancaster County, PA!
Another major site overhaul will occur in the next few days, in the event that I maintain the ability to steal wireless internet from my neighbors. Short version: I've had a job for about two weeks now, and Lancaster feels more like home every day. I'm staying with my gracious cousin Heather for the month of October, then moving into my own place the last weekend of October. Other news includes my ability to keep my dog when I move from my old home in Bellwood, PA, and my sincere love of the area in which I'm living.
Site overhaul coming soon!